


Falling in love just a little bit

by MegaWallflower



Category: Naruto
Genre: Embarrassment, Fluff, Hint of a crush, Introspection, M/M, POV Hatake Kakashi, bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 15:40:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,609
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20117491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaWallflower/pseuds/MegaWallflower
Summary: The mission is done, and Kakashi and Guy recover from the ordeal.Set after the flashback in Naruto Shippuden episode 288.





	Falling in love just a little bit

Waking up to a nose burrowing into his neck and a pair of arms wrapping around his waist was not the least pleasant experience in the world.

Still groggy, Kakashi brought his hand up to lightly pet at whoever it was. He ruffled hair that was too silky and fine to belong to any of his ninken. 

Kakashi stirred awake, blinking sleepily into the darkness. This was a medical tent, and this was a sleeping mat. He turned his head slightly, just enough that the inky black tresses were clearly visible. Too long and straight for Obito –not that it could have been Obito in the first place. Kakashi pulled back slightly, still running his hand through Guy’s hair.

A content murmur tickled his shoulder and Guy shuffled closer again, tightening his grip around Kakashi’s waist.

“Guy, what are you doing here?” Kakashi whispered, just in case his rival had sleepwalked. And sleep _cuddled_. It wouldn’t be the first time. If Kakashi always found a way to sneak out of the hospital, Guy could always find a way to sneak in, even in his sleep.

“Mm… I’ll protect you, Rival…” Guy muttered in response, half-asleep and nuzzling back into Kakashi’s neck.

Kakashi sighed and relaxed into the embrace. Absently, he started to stroke the arms around his stomach as he gathered his thoughts.

That’s right, he had been on a mission with Rin and Guy. Guy, because they needed a third, after…

_The mission_, did they manage to finish the mission? Guy had left in the middle of the night to be a decoy. Kakashi had chased after him. He cut a lightning bolt in half. Rin returned with reinforcements.

Kakashi didn’t remember anything after that. He wracked his brain for a clearer memory.

Feeling a sudden heavy pain in his chest, passing out, everything getting dark. Was it the chakra exhaustion or the lightning that had run through his heart? Kakashi couldn’t figure it out, mostly because Guy seemed to draw closer to him every time Kakashi was on the verge of a coherent thought, and that was proving to be a pretty effective way of making Kakashi lose whatever train of thought he had.

The breath that stirred his messy hair, the rise and fall of Guy’s chest against his back, the arms holding him securely… like this, Kakashi could hardly think of anything except the fact that Guy almost died out there.

_Almost. _

A welcome change of pace from the _more-than-almost_ with Obito. Kakashi could still see his friend crushed under that rock every time he closed his eyes. He’d left Obito behind, and he regretted it with every stolen second he lived.

“Kakashi,” Guy murmured, suddenly awake and alert. “You’re shaking.”

Kakashi blinked slowly, still in the process of assessing his situation. Guy was right; he was apparently shaking. From the tears he could feel gathering on his eyelashes and running down his cheek, he belatedly realized that he was crying, too. “Ah,” more a sob than a word, “I’m fine.”

Guy didn’t buy it. He drew back so he could hover over Kakashi, frowning down at the watery half-smile that Kakashi greeted him with. “Is something wrong? Your heart kept stopping after you did that lightning thing. Should I go get Rin?”

“No,” Kakashi answered brusquely. Trying again, softer this time, he grumbled, “No, I’m fine. I’m fine, Guy. It’s just…” He cleared his throat to buy time to think of a simple excuse. “…You’re heavy.”

“—I am heavy!” Guy bought it easily enough. “I didn’t mean to pass out on top of you! I’m sorry, rival!”

Guy started to pull away, but Kakashi looped his arms around Guy’s neck, tugging him down into a hug.

“Kakashi?” Guy tensed, his eyes scanning his rival to see if he really was out of his mind. He was probably weighing whether or not he needed to call for Rin or one of the other medical ninjas after all.

Kakashi didn’t bother with his usual aloofness. He couldn’t, at the moment. Maybe there was still some adrenaline coursing through his veins now that his heart was beating again, or maybe that was just how strong the wave of relief passing over him was.

His arms wrapped loosely around Guy’s torso and he buried his nose in the nest of inky black hair in front of him, as if to scent the other boy, to make sure with his own senses that this wasn’t some afterlife. “You’re alive,” he breathed out. He could feel Guy shiver and tense uncomfortably from the sensation of Kakashi’s breath on his skin. “We made it out of that somehow. I kept you safe.”

Guy tentatively obliged with a proper hug. “Of course, we made it, Kakashi! They didn’t stand a chance against our teamwork! I mean, you cut a lightning bolt in half, Rival! That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen! And I’m pretty amazing too! Between the two of us, we were just too amazing to lose!”

Kakashi breathed in deeply again, nuzzling against Guy. This was real. Guy was alive. He wasn’t bleeding out alone somewhere. “Yeah,” Something between a laugh and a sob bubbled out of Kakashi’s chest. “I know. You had me to save your ass, of course you’re okay. I should get a point for that,” he teased, earning an indignant guffaw and Guy pulling back to gawk defiantly at him.

It felt good to see Guy laughing and grinning like he hadn’t almost died a few hours ago. It felt better to see the pout on Guy’s face at the thought of losing a point. “You should _not_! That wasn’t a challenge! We both performed well, so if anything, we’ll both get a point for it!”

Kakashi grinned. Guy was the same as ever, more concerned with their weird little rivalry than even his own life. “That scared to lose your lead?” he said playfully.

“I’ll _never_ lose my hard-earned lead!”

“Heh. Took you long enough to get ahead in the first place. All I need are two wins and I’m officially better than you again.”

“I won’t let you get them that easily anymore!”

“I don’t need your permission. I’m plenty good enough with or without you letting me do anything…” Kakashi trailed off, deep in thought again.

He remembered now.

The depths of power that appeared out of nowhere when he realized he was about to lose someone else, someone who had practically always been there… That feat was because of Guy, wasn’t it? Maybe Guy actually did make him better, in some small way. “…Ah.”

Guy stopped and stared up at him with a confused glance, head tilting to one side. “What is it, Rival?”

“I feel strong with you,” Kakashi admitted, a confession that was as simple as it was obtuse.

Kakashi had to laugh, partly from the pent-up relief, but mostly because of the luminescent blush that burned on Guy’s face around the ridiculously huge grin. “I feel even stronger when I’m with you, too, Kakashi! That’s why there’s no way I’ll lose!”

They quickly devolved into giggles, into tickle-fighting, into makeshift wrestling, because they somehow determined that if the mission couldn’t be worth a point, _something_ had to be.

“Oh, Kakashi,” the Yellow Flash arrived without footsteps or opening the flaps of the tent’s entrance. “You’re awake—”

The two of them hurriedly broke apart, and Kakashi practically shoved Guy off of the mat and onto the dirt floor. Guy used the momentum to roll to his feet, standing stiffly at attention. “Minato-sensei! Kakashi’s awake!”

Minato paused and looked between the two boys, and for a second, Kakashi dreaded whatever question he was going to have to answer. But mercifully, Minato just smiled and nodded. “I can see that! Thanks for watching over him for me, Guy.”

“Of course! I’m happy to! Watch Kakashi, I mean! Well, he’s my rival, and he’s your student, so we both lo—” Guy backtracked. His restless energy was giving them away more than his words, honestly. “Care! We both care about him! So much! A—ahaha! I feel lightheaded! I think I’m going to go see Rin!”

Minato waved him off, and Kakashi ignored him as he ran out of the tent so fast that he nearly knocked it over.

“This was a good team up. You and Guy work well together,” Minato remarked.

Kakashi rolled his eyes and grumbled, pulling up his blankets in case the mask wasn’t doing a good enough job of hiding the color in his cheeks. “He’s such a headache.”

Minato squatted down and pressed a hand to Kakashi’s forehead. “I’m glad you’re okay. Sorry I wasn’t there again. I wish I could be with our team more. They keep assigning me to these other tasks…” Minato looked at Kakashi with that honest, full-eyed stare, fond and regret and too sincere for a man of is status.

Kakashi kept his mouth shut so he wouldn’t say something embarrassing that he’d regret. Like “I missed you” or “Then tell them to assign me and Rin with you” or “We needed you,” or “I can handle it, I can protect them,” or “I was scared,” or “You look like my dad when you make that face.”

Kakashi stayed silent, telling himself he was an adult, a shinobi, a jonin, and he couldn’t have selfish requests or childish thoughts like that.

“And…” Minato continued with a lighter tone. “Sorry I interrupted… whatever that was with you and Guy.”

Kakashi grimaced, his cheeks burning. “That was _nothing_.”

Sheepishly, Minato simply answered, “Don’t worry, I promise to knock next time you’re doing nothing.”


End file.
